Witness Recants in Maryland Arson Trial

An arson prosecution witness recanted on the stand Wednesday his earlier statements that the man on federal trial had a plan to set fires to gain notoriety for his gang.

Michael Gilbert said he had lied when he told investigators that Patrick Walsh had tried to recruit him for a plot that burned more than two dozen houses in a subdivision Dec. 6.

“I was scared. I didn’t know what to do,” Gilbert testified. “The truth wasn’t working, so I figured I’d tell them what they wanted to hear and I’d go home.”

Prosecutors allege that Walsh was the mastermind behind the fires at the Hunters Brooke subdivision in southern Maryland.

No one was injured, but the fires caused $10 million in damage.

Gilbert was originally charged in the case, but prosecutors dropped the charges.

He appeared at Walsh’s trial under immunity for his testimony.

During a roughly eight-hour interview with investigators Dec. 20, shortly after Walsh was arrested, Gilbert reportedly said Walsh had told him he was planning some sort of fire. The Friday before the Hunters Brooke blazes, Walsh told him, “You know something will go down, and it will probably be Sunday,” according to Gilbert’s statement.

Gilbert told investigators he did not take part in the fires.

Walsh is charged with arson and conspiracy for the fires, which destroyed 10 houses and damaged 16 more.

Four other men were indicted, and two have pleaded guilty.

One of the two, a former security guard at Hunters Brooke, was to testify at Walsh’s trial under a plea agreement. But prosecutor Donna Sanger said Wednesday that he would not appear.